BENGALURU: Seconds before Prem Singh Saud jumped off the fourth floor of the building to save himself, he had called his friend and colleague, and said,“There is fire everywhere... nowhere to escape.”
Panic-stricken, the first thing that came to his mind was to jump off the building that was under fire to save himself, not realising the consequences.
Saud, 29, is a cook at Mudpipe Cafe at Koramangala, which was destroyed in a blaze due to a gas leak and cylinder blast. He joined the cafe seven years ago.
‘No option left but to jump’
Saud and his colleague were preparing meals for their staffers. “The cafe has two kitchens. One is used for preparing food for guests and the other for staffers. Minutes before the blaze, the other cook noticed that one of the stoves had caught fire. He alerted Saud and ran away. Since Saud is an experienced cook, he went into the kitchen to see what has happened, which is when he realised the intensity and that he was trapped. As the fire started spreading, Saud ran out of the kitchen to save himself,” one of his colleagues told TNIE.
His friend was at Apollo Hospital in Jayanagar, where Saud was being treated. “I asked Saud to escape from there. I am shocked to see him in this condition. He was left with no option but to jump off the fourth floor of the building,” he said.
Saud was initially rushed to KG Hospital in Tilak Nagar and was then shifted to Apollo. He sustained multiple injuries. His right arm is fractured and sustained back, spinal and hip-related injuries. Doctors said the next 72 hours are critical for Saud. He is unconscious and on ventilator support.